Page 79 - RusRPTMar21

(Russian Post). Most of the funds sent - $6.2bn – are sent to the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The 2019 figure was only slightly higher than the 2020 result and amounted to $7.5bn. For comparison in 2018, individuals transferred $9.5bn to CIS and non-CIS countries, in 2017 it was $9.2bn and in 2016 a total of $7.3bn was transferred.
Money coming into Russia from other countries was also down in 2020,
falling to $3.1bn from both the CIS and the “far abroad,” reports RBC, down slightly from the $3.3bn received in 2019, of which $1.7bn came from non-CIS countries.
The market for cross-border transfers began to fall in March and reached a minimum in April, dropping to $302mn per month. This was influenced by the closed borders, the suspension of the work of trade and service enterprises, as well as the weakening of the ruble in March following the collapse of the OPEC+ production cut deal; the ruble/dollar rate rose to almost RUB75 from RUB64 rubles in February as oil prices tumbled into the high 20s at that time.
The market recovery began in May, when $490mn was transferred from Russia abroad, which turned out to be 18.6% and 62.2% higher than in March and April, respectively. But the total volume of transfers was still below 2019 levels by 27.7%.
In July, individuals transferred a record $837mn – the highest level in two years, the most since October 2018 when $856mn was sent overseas. According to market representatives, this was due to the deferred demand, which was observed mainly from labour migrants from the CIS countries, who largely decided to stay at home in 2020.
According to Rosstat, in January-November 2020, 91,000 migrants arrived in Russia from abroad against the 259,000 that arrived a year earlier. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the end of 2020, there were 6.3mn foreign migrants in Russia, half of whom are Ukrainians.
79 RUSSIA Country Report March 2021 www.intellinews.com